women; visual culture; Middle Ages; Bohemia; spirituality; religious life; clausura

The women’s religious movement became a phenomenon of High Medieval Europe, including the central and eastern European regions. Since the 13th century we encounter in Bohemian Lands numerous lay communities arising across Bohemian and Moravian towns. Unfortunately, about most of them we only have very limited references revealing the fact that unlike the western women’s religious lay communities they only hosted a several women living together in houses in proximity of parish churches or mendicant monasteries. The visual culture of these communities reflects their quasi-monastic and semi-religious character inspired by the nunneries and the secular culture. This includes iconography as well as the function of the visual objects, such as illuminated spiritual compendia, sculptures and murals. The unique and most outstanding example of women’s lay religious community and its visual culture is the Tertiary house founded as a third cloister next to the double monastery of Poor Clares and Friars Minor in Český Krumlov. Besides its architecture with preserved 15th century murals depicting the female members of the lay religious community, we can also relate to it an illuminated compendium known as the Krumlov Miscellanea suitable for cura monialium and cura laicorum.

The women’s religious movement became a phenomenon of High Medieval Europe, including the central and eastern European regions. Since the 13th century we encounter in Bohemian Lands numerous lay communities arising across Bohemian and Moravian towns. Unfortunately, about most of them we only have very limited references revealing the fact that unlike the western women’s religious lay communities they only hosted a several women living together in houses in proximity of parish churches or mendicant monasteries. The visual culture of these communities reflects their quasi-monastic and semi-religious character inspired by the nunneries and the secular culture. This includes iconography as well as the function of the visual objects, such as illuminated spiritual compendia, sculptures and murals. The unique and most outstanding example of women’s lay religious community and its visual culture is the Tertiary house founded as a third cloister next to the double monastery of Poor Clares and Friars Minor in Český Krumlov. Besides its architecture with preserved 15th century murals depicting the female members of the lay religious community, we can also relate to it an illuminated compendium known as the Krumlov Miscellanea suitable for cura monialium and cura laicorum.